


break a leg (not a heart)

by hyungsobbing



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Theatre, zeren and wenjun as a side pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 06:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14491254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyungsobbing/pseuds/hyungsobbing
Summary: There might be thousands of people looking at him, but Justin only sees Chengcheng.





	break a leg (not a heart)

**Author's Note:**

> pls forgive me for my sad lack of theatre knowledge...im sorry if i butchered any theatre things!! or any grammatical mistakes hehe this is a superlate and sad (bad) (bday?) present for my BFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFL (best fake fake fake fake unFunny friend loser)

“Two, three!” The director yells, and with their arms linked, they bow to the audience. Above the sounds of clapping and screaming and the exhilaration running through his veins, Justin feels the warmth of another’s hand and the unsteady beating of his heart. 

 

Looking down, he sees roses and sunflowers and dozens of others flowers scattered at his feet. On a whim, he picks up a pink rose and slips it into his pocket, and he feels the hand around his tighten. Justin smiles as he stands up, and doesn’t let go of his hand. 

 

_-4 months_

 

Justin sits with his cheek smushed against the cold plastic of the desk, and wonders if his fourth period teacher would yell at him if he dozed off now. Idly, he spins a pen between his fingers, and somehow the elliptical motion of the pen is enough to attract the attention of his desk mate. 

 

“Are you paying attention?” Zeren asks, and Justin shrugs. “Does it look like I am?” Zeren shakes his head. 

 

Distracted, he loses his grip on the pen and it drops to the ground, still spinning as it hits the floor. “That was your fault,” He grumbles as he bends down to pick the pen up. “Maybe if you’d been paying attention and writing notes that wouldn’t have happened,” Zeren says, and Justin shifts in his seat to lean his head against Zeren’s shoulder. 

 

“What’s the point of that when you’ll lend me your notes later?” Justin mumbles into Zeren’s shoulder. He decides not to comment on the fact that his neck was starting to hurt because of the—well, the height difference. 

 

Zeren doesn’t fight back, and sighs. “Sure.” Justin grins sleepily and shuts his eyes, the soft lavender scent of Zeren’s shirt pulling him into sleep. 

 

 

 

 

Amazingly, Mrs Ling doesn’t yell at him for dozing off. Of course, he’s aware that she closed a blind eye to him because she knows that Zeren would help him later, but he brags about being the teacher’s favourite to his friends anyway. 

 

“And she totally saw me sleeping on Zeren, but she didn’t say a word! It’s so obvious I’m her favourite student.” He sniffs, backpack weighing down on his shoulders. Xinchun snorts disbelievingly and Wenjun and Zeren sigh in sync. “Isn’t Mrs Ling’s favourite student Zeren?” Wenjun says, and Justin rolls his eyes. 

 

“You must be blind to ignore the praising looks she gives me in class,” He says, ignoring Wenjun’s cough. “You mean the glares she gives you for slacking off.” Xinchun says, and Justin scowls at the boy. “Shut up, Xinchun.” He doesn’t have a better retort, but they don’t need to know that. 

 

It’s a spring day, but it’s raining. Or rather, it’s pouring, and he’s currently sharing an umbrella with one very grumpy Huang Xinchun. “Stop hogging the umbrella!” Xinchun snaps at Justin, and yanks the handle to his side. “I’m carrying my laptop in my bag!” Justin retorts, and snatches the umbrella handle back. 

 

“Well, who asked you to not bring an umbrella, then?” Xinchun kicks Justin in the shin and he stumbles a bit, and Xinchun snatches the opportunity to claim possession of the umbrella. “Consider yourself fortunate I’m not leaving you in the rain!” Xinchun snipes, but Justin can’t really take him seriously with the minion earrings dangling from his heads and the banana-patterned umbrella. 

 

“I wouldn’t be caught dead holding a banana umbrella anyway,” Justin sulks, and clutches his bag to his chest. “When I turn legal, I’m not going to let you sit in my car.” He adds, revelling in his win as Xinchun frowns and tilts the umbrella just slightly to Justin’s side. 

 

They continue walking, with Wenjun and Zeren’s chatter drowned out by the sound of the rain. Justin glares at Xinchun as the boy tries to subtly edge away from Justin and pulls him back by the collar. 

 

By the time they reach Justin’s house, his (expensive!) shirt is drenched and the gel has melted out of his hair and his fringe hangs loosely over his forehead. Xinchun, on the other hand, is almost completely dry and currently grinning smugly at Justin, who’s currently standing in the doorway, shaking himself out like a wet dog. 

 

“Hurry up or there’ll be no more food left!” Zeren calls from the living room, and Justin decides he can’t be bothered and flings his coat and bag down by the couch. “Coming!” He replies, and shoves past Xinchun. 

 

Sitting at the end of the dining table is Hyungseob, who’s a friend of Justin’s older brother Zhengting. Justin really likes Hyungseob, because he helps him with his Korean and Physics work, and sneaks him cookies when Zhengting decides he’s on a diet and therefore the entire family must be too. 

 

“Justin!” Hyungseob says, and he pushes his chair back with a screech, hurrying over to his side. “Why are you all wet? You didn’t bring your umbrella out again, didn’t you?” Justin shrugs and lets Hyungseob hug him, and the older boy tsks at him. “Xinchun kept shoving me out into the rain.” He pouts, looking at Hyungseob, but the older boy only bursts out into laughter. “I’m telling Zhengting about this!” He high-fives Xinchun.

 

Justin sits back down and starts to eat angrily, shoving the cookies into his mouth. He stops when Wenjun glares at him, smacking his hand away from the cookie platter. “You pig.” He says, and pulls the plate towards himself. Justin, now empty-handed, sits back on his chair, arms crossed.

 

The living room is like that for a while. Zeren and Wenjun pull out their homework to do on the table and Hyungseob sits near them, occasionally answering their questions and typing away on his laptop. Xinchun sits on the floor, playing with Dahua, Justin’s dog, which had somehow taken a strange liking to him.

 

His bag is next to the couch, and he honestly can’t be bothered to move to get it. He manages to sit still for about three minutes, then he starts bouncing up and down on the cushioned seat, and then goes to disturb Zeren and then when he’s scared away by his glare, goes to bother Xinchun. Dahua barks at him, and Justin scolds Xinchun for brainwashing his dog into hating him.

 

And then, finally, the door of the living room opens and his brother comes home. “Gē!” He shouts excitedly. Zhengting grins at Justin and ruffles his hair fondly. “I brought food back from the lab because today we did genetically modified food,” And he sets down the Tupperware container on the table.

 

Justin reaches for the container, and Hyungseob sighs. “Don’t you ever worry about what goes into that lab experiment? What if he messed up?” He says, and Zhengting rolls his eyes. “Not really, no.” Justin says through a mouthful of calamari prawns and some sauce. Xinchun finally notices the presence of food and sets Dahua down, reaching towards the food. Justin tries to hide it but upon noticing Zhengting’s glare, he shoves the container towards Xinchun, albeit rather grudgingly.

 

“You rarely bring food back for us. Did you want something?” Zeren says, and Xinchun chokes on the prawns, snorting a little. “What makes you think I can’t bring back food for you out of the goodness of my heart?” Zhengting says, nose scrunched up. Everyone, including Dahua, turns to look at him. Zhengting coughs.

 

“Anyway, my university friend is cousins with a person from your school and he says they’re putting on a play in about four months. You should audition,” He tells them, putting the flyer down. All of them squint at the paper, which has black words against a red backdrop. _Robin Hood,_ it reads. Justin’s eyes scan over the flyer and quickly loses interest, turning back to his calamari.

 

Wenjun, however, is a totally different issue. “Is this open to high-school students?” He asks eagerly. “It’s organised by your school,” Zhengting laughs, and by the way Wenjun’s eyes light up, Justin gets a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looks at Xinchun in panic, and Xinchun looks back at him, eyes alight with slight horror. They both look at Wenjun, who’s now taking a picture on the flyer and probably sending it to that drama club of his.

 

Justin edges closer to Xinchun and Zeren shoots both of them a glare. “If I have to do it, both of you have to come with me.” Zeren says, and Wenjun is too absorbed to care. Justin shakes his head violently and tries to run out of the room, but Zhengting catches his arm and drags him back. “Not this again.” Justin whispers.

 

_When they were thirteen, Wenjun had forced them to audition for their school’s rendition of Beauty and the Beast. The three of them, plus an unwilling Quanzhe, followed Wenjun to the auditorium with heavy footsteps._

_As expected, Wenjun gets the role of Belle, and all of them don’t hesitate to tease him about it, but Wenjun is too excited to care. Another boy, a sixteen-year old, gets Beast. Cai Xukun and Wenjun hit it off, and Justin can tell Wenjun’s just a little too excited to hold hands with Xukun onstage._

_Of course, they’re not even close to legal age, so there’s no kissing. “Aww,” Zeren says, but they all know he’s not disappointed. “Aww, that sucks.” Wenjun says, and everyone knows he’s disappointed. “Oh.” Cai Xukun says, and no one knows what’s he’s thinking._

_The play goes well. Wenjun is invited to join the middle school drama club, and Xukun’s named best actor at his graduation ceremony. They all watch with a certain degree of solemnity as Xukun kisses another boy onstage._

And so, there’s a sense of deja-vu as Wenjun approaches the theatre crowd, and slowly he blends in, laughing and faking accents and talking loudly. The four of them stand off to one side, not exactly singled out to be mocked but not exactly fitting in either. Xinchun and Justin lock pinkies behind their backs and Zeren leans on Quanzhe’s shoulder.

 

A man climbs on stage and claps his hands once, and the hall lights dim as the stage lights brighten. His profile is thrown into sharp relief and Justin recognises him as the lead actor from last year’s _Grease_ summer play. “I’m Lin Yanjun, and I’m your director for this play.” He pauses, obviously waiting for something, and the theatre group bursts into loud applause, and the rest of the auditorium follows. He grins in satisfaction and continues.

 

“Honestly, I’m quite surprised at the large turnout for auditions this year. I checked the sign-ups list and it shows that we have two hundred and twenty people auditioning from both the middle and high school this year.” He stops again, and Justin chokes back a laugh. The theatre group starts clapping and someone yells his name, and Yanjun bows in their direction.

 

“But this year, there won’t be a Maid Marian to her Robin Hood. Instead, we will have Robin Hood’s sidekick and the Robin himself as the two star characters. Anyone who’d come in hopes of getting a bit of romance—you can leave now.” Yanjun says. To their surprise, a good twenty people file out of the hall, mumbling and Yanjun turns back to face them with a slightly sinister smile. Justin tightens his grip on Xinchun’s pinky.

 

“We have no time to waste, so I’ll be getting everyone to memorise a couple lines from our script and try out for characters. Split up into groups according to who you’re trying out for.” There’s a huge commotion, and he sees the theatre people push and shove each other to try and get to the Robin Hood role. He glances at his friends, and he sees Zeren staring at Wenjun, who’s arm is slung around the shoulder of a guy his height. “I’m going.” Zeren says, and stalks off, joining the group auditioning for Robin Hood. Wenjun blinks at him in surprise but quickly get over it, introducing his friend to Zeren.

 

Justin turns back around to only find Quanzhe, because Xinchun (that coward) had already run out of the auditorium. “Do you want to go together, gē?” Justin asks, and Quanzhe nods. Together, they walk towards the role of the sidekick, and someone hands them a small slip of paper.

 

As they’re practicing their lines, the noise level in the auditorium rises to one comparable of a whole nation at a soccer field, and Yanjun sits on a high-chair a little to the side of the stage, uncaring about the noise. The guy next to him is really loud.

 

He uncurls his fingers from the slip of paper and watches as it drifts to the floor, and quickly gets trampled on by a guy pacing around, speaking aloud to himself. Quanzhe looks at him in alarm and offers his slip of paper to Justin, but he waves it aside.

 

 

 

 

Unknowingly, he falls asleep sitting on the first row of the auditorium, and wakes up to Quanzhe is shaking him awake. It’s weirdly quiet around him, and he quickly realises it’s because everyone is staring at him. Their gazes range from amused to annoyed, and he catches Lin Yanjun’s stare. The boy has a contemplative glint in his eyes, and Justin catches his gaze.

 

 _Bad move, bad move!_ His brain screams at him as Lin Yanjun cocks an eyebrow, lips pursed. Someone coughs in the auditorium and Yanjun snaps back to attention. “Yes. We’ll be starting the auditions for Robin Hood first, then his sidekick Christian, and then the side characters. All actors please get ready by the side of the stage.”

 

“What was that?” Quanzhe hisses, and Justin looks back at him with equally wide eyes. “I don’t know!” He whisper-yells back, and Quanzhe looks distressed, eyebrows slanting downwards. “What if he blacklists you?” He worries. Justin shrugs. “I don’t really care about getting in. I came just to humour Wenjun.”

 

The first phase passes too quickly, and Justin watches, bored, only paying attention to a select few. Zeren is clearly nervous, and it shows in the fidgeting of his hands. Wenjun is way better, of course, but he catches Yanjun’s stare and stumbles over his words. The guy Wenjun was talking to previously was confident, but then also kind of shy mixed with an odd bravery (kind of suited for Robin Hood) and Yanjun applauds him.

 

It’s the auditions for the sidekick now, and Justin would feel nervous—except he already knows he has zero chance of getting it or even getting the part of the understudy. Quanzhe goes a few people before him and does alright. Yanjun lifts his hands to clap then thinks better of it and puts his hands down. Before going up, he’s supposed to pass his script to Yanjun to prevent cheating but he turns out his pockets and lifts his hands to show Yanjun.

 

“Where’s your script?” He asks curiously. “Dropped it and it got trampled,” Justin replies casually, and he finds that on second glance, Yanjun is really quite handsome. “Sure, go ahead.” Yanjun says, and folds his arms. Justin takes a deep breath, and realises he can barely string a sentence together because he didn’t bother memorising it.

 

He takes a deep breath, and decides to fake his way through it. “I'll organize voltages, exact a life for a death, and I'll keep on resting until every Saxo,” He pauses, putting his hand on his waist, pretending to draw out a sword but actually stalling for time until he remembers his line, “Saxophone in this shire can stand up free men and pose a bow,” Suddenly, he finds that he can’t remember anything at all. _Oh shit,_ his brain goes when his mouth opens but no words come out. Yanjun raises an eyebrow at him and he can see Wenjun yelling noiselessly at him from the audience to _do something! Don’t just stand there dumbly!_

 

Justin panics. His eyes scan the auditorium and he sees Zhengting and Hyungseob standing at the back of the hall and he gets a terrible idea. Yanjun looks at his watch. Taking a deep breath, he runs forward, taking a double step and he leaps into the air, and executes a very unsteady flip.  He lands with a wobble, hair flopping over his eyes. There isn’t time to regret the stupidity and randomness of his decision. The entire auditorium seems to inhale a deep breath and he can tell Yanjun is impressed by the quirk of his lips. “For Richard and America!” He finishes with a flourish, smile tucked behind his teeth and (fake) confidence.

 

The auditorium bursts into slow clapping, and he looks back at Zhengting and Hyungseob, smiling proudly. Justin smiles back and mentally pats himself on his back for not entirely freezing up on stage.

 

When he returns back to the seats, Quanzhe leans over and whispers to him. “You do realise you butchered the entire meaning and switched up half of the words?” Justin shrugs. The guy on the other side of Justin looks at him from the corner of his eye and Justin grins at the guy, and the theatre kid visibly shudders and looks away.

 

Later, Wenjun tells him that the theatre group wasn’t sure whether to be impressed at his flips and confidence, or insulted that he tried to mix dance with theatre and completely destroyed the script. “I’ll be positive about it. Besides, if I don’t make it, it’s not a loss for me, anyways.” He says, and Zhengting pulls up in his Lexus, the engine barely making any sound. “Get in losers, we’re going shopping!” Hyungseob calls from the front seat, and Justin pulls in Xinchun and Quanzhe after him, leaving Zeren and Wenjun on the sidewalk.

 

Hyungseob turns around and smiles at them. “I just made a theatrical reference!” He exclaims, proud of himself. Quanzhe smiles weakly at him and Xinchun opens his mouth, but Justin beats him to it. _“Hyung, Mean Girls is neither a play nor is it a musical.”_ He says in Korean and Hyungseob beams at him and pats him on the head. “Indeed, it isn’t.” He says from the front seat.

 

 

 

 

“Audition results are out!” Is the first thing Wenjun says when they see each other in the first-period class. The teacher isn’t here yet, and Justin doesn’t react. “Audition results are out,” Wenjun repeats, confused at the lack of reaction he was receiving.

 

“I heard.” Justin says as he likes his own photo on Weibo. “Let’s go see!” Wenjun says, pulling Justin out of his seat. He yelps, but lets himself get dragged out anyway because he was curious who Yanjun deemed good enough to play the roles.

 

The notice is pasted up on the Theatre board and there are already people clustered around it, despite the fact that it’s currently class-time. Wenjun shoves his way through the people and Justin follows.

 

Oddly enough, people aren’t glaring at them. Instead, they’re looking at Justin with something like shock and envy, and Justin feels the sinking feeling in his stomach come back. Wenjun reaches the board before him and he stumbles backwards in shock when he sees the results. Justin shoves a hand against his back to steady him, and Wenjun turns around.

 

“You got it!” Wenjun says, and he moves aside to let Justin see. And he did. Under the part of Christian, bolded in black is his name. He rubs his eyes, but his name doesn’t disappear. His brain isn’t processing this, and he peers closer at the list. Wenjun is talking beside him, but Justin isn’t listening.

 

He didn’t have any experience in acting, and he can already imagine the backlash of the other actors. “Wenjun, I—” He opens his mouth to say, and Wenjun looks at him in concern. “Why?”

 

“I—”

 

“So, you’re my co-star!” Someone says, and Justin looks up from the list to see the boy Wenjun had been talking to the other day. He sees the firetruck-red hair, and his first instinct is to give the boy a judging look. Justin whips around to look at the paper, and there it is. His name, Fan Chengcheng bolded and underlined under the role of Robin Hood. “And you must be Chengcheng.” Justin says, and Chengcheng holds out a hand to shake.

 

Justin doesn’t accept it. “Not so fast, dude. I haven’t even accepted the role.”

 

“Why wouldn’t you?” Wenjun almost yells, and everyone within a three-metre radius (or, everyone skipping class for results) turns to stare. “Because I have no experience and this is a huge thing?” Justin says unsurely. Why would he accept the role?

 

There’s pin-drop silence in the next half a minute following his statement, and he looks to the side only to see Chengcheng staring in him in surprise as well. “What?” He says.

 

Chengcheng frowns. “Listen, Yanjun doesn’t play around in theatre. If he chose you, he has a reason and I’m willing to bet it’s because he sees the potential and personality traits of Christian in you. Even if you try to turn it down, Yanjun won’t let you.”

 

Someone claps, the sound echoing through the hallway. Justin raises and eyebrow, supressing the urge to giggle out loud at his hair while Chengcheng is being all serious. “Theatre kids are competitive, but not completely dumb to acknowledge when someone deserves a role.” Others join the clapping, and Chengcheng shrugs.

 

“That’s right!” Yanjun says, and his shock of white hair is the first thing Justin sees when he steps out from behind the crowd. “Chengcheng is a smart boy, because even if you offer to do my homework for the rest of my life, I’m not letting you drop out.” Yanjun finishes, and turns around once he’s made his point.

 

“Wait!” Justin calls out, but Yanjun doesn’t stop walking. Shoving through the crowd and completely ignoring the complaints, he runs after the director. “Yanjun!” Justin calls, and he’s never been more grateful for his long legs when he catches up to the boy in less than a few seconds. “What can I do for you, Christian?” Yanjun says with no inflection in his tone.

 

“Why are you calling me that?” Justin asks.

 

“I casted you as Christian, so I’m calling you that. Get into your role.” Yanjun replies, and continues walking. “Don’t you actors emphasise lots on separating stage persona from your own personality?” Justin says without thinking. (What’s new?)

 

Yanjun stops. “You’re right, my bad. What can I do for you, Justin?”

 

“Why did you pick me over the dozens of other qualified actors?” Justin asks, straightforward and without beating around the bush. Yanjun seems to not mind it, because he answers his question anyway. “You seem the kind of person who would fit Christian’s role well. The type of background character who shines despite constantly being outshadowed,” Yanjun says, and although Justin is a bit overwhelmed, he thinks he can kind of understand what the older boy is saying.

 

“Thanks, I know I sucked at the auditions.” He says dryly, and Yanjun shrugs. “Take it whatever way you want.” And walks off without saying anything else. _Are all theatre kids like this?_ Justin thinks, and worries that he’d become like that as well.

 

When the first rehearsal rolls around, Wenjun says that the students have already gotten over the shock of a complete newbie getting the role of the co-star. “Aren’t you disappointed?” Justin asks. 

 

Wenjun shrugs. “I can’t deny that Chengcheng has the vibe of Robin Hood that Yanjun is going for. Handsome, charming and gives the audience a lot of second-hand embarrassment.” 

 

Justin laughs. He had been worried that Wenjun would be bitter about not getting the main role and only a supporting role, but looking at Wenjun’s focused stare on his script and Zeren’s fond gaze on him, Justin feels a little more at ease. 

 

“Meet me at the auditorium later five minutes before the rehearsal, okay?” Wenjun says, standing up and picking up his lunch tray. “Let’s go, Zeren.”

 

Shooting an apologetic glance at Justin, Zeren picks up his own tray and walks away with Wenjun. “Ditchers!” Justin yells after them, throwing a cherry tomato in Zeren’s direction. It completely veers off its trajectory and hits another guy on the back of his head. The tomato bursts open and he can actually see the tiny seeds fly out of the fruit.

 

 _Oh no_ , Justin thinks as the red-haired boy turns around in surprise. Justin looks away hastily, and prays that the guy hadn’t seen him. 

 

“Hey!” Someone says, and Justin groans internally. “Look, I’m sorry for throwing that at you but it wasn’t meant for you. I’ll pay you back double for your dry cleaning but don’t sue me, please!” He says hastily and shifts away from the person. 

 

“Oh, I wasn’t going to say that!” The person exclaims, and Justin looks up. “Oh, it’s you.” He says. It wasn’t like he was opposed to the guy or anything, but more like they didn’t really know each other well. 

 

“I was thinking we should get to know each other a bit more before rehearsals, so I came over,” Chengcheng says, placing his lunch tray beside Justin’s and sitting down. _Oh_ , Justin thinks. “Sure.” He says. 

 

“I’m Fan Chengcheng, and I’m a second year,” He pauses to shovel food in his mouth and continues talking with his mouth full. _Cool_ , Justin thinks. “I’m graduating next year. I like dogs but I’m allergic to them, and I happen to really like cherry tomatoes.” He grins. 

 

Justin’s overdramatic tendencies get the better of him before he has time to realise that he barely knew the guy. “You monster!” He gasps. “Cherry tomatoes are the devil’s fruit, and anyone who eats them are the devil’s spawn.” 

 

Chengcheng laughs. “I don’t deny that I am. But if you think about it, it means that I can eat your tomatoes for you.” He says. Justin nods, and Chengcheng reaches out to pinch one of his tomatoes. “Thanks,” Justin says, watching as he swallows the tomato and goes back to his own food. 

 

“Anyway, what about you?” Chengcheng asks. 

 

“I’m Huang Justin, a first year, I have a dog and I detest cherry tomatoes.” He says seriously. Chengcheng stops eating to gape at Justin. “You have a dog?”

 

“Yeah! Her name is Dahua and she’s a Samoyed dog, she’s three and she hates dog treats.” Justin says, and Chengcheng waves his fork in excitement. “Do you have pictures?”

 

Justin pulls out his phone and swipes until he reaches a picture of Dahua chewing on his homework, and Chengcheng coos. “I got scolded for losing my homework, but it was totally worth it because she was so happy,” Justin says.

 

“I wish I could get a dog, but I have a really bad allergy to them.” Chengcheng says wistfully. Justin grimaces in sympathy. 

 

The bell rings, signalling the end of lunch. Chengcheng walks with Justin to his AP Geography class, and leaves only after making Justin promise to send him pictures of Dahua. Justin snorts and tells him he’d only send them if Chengcheng promises to wash the tomato seeds out of his hair.

 

Justin walks into class slightly late and Zeren gives him a weird look when he dumps his bag on the floor and does a little wiggle in his seat. “What’s up with you?” 

 

Justin pulls his pencil case and textbook out of his bag and makes a little note in the margins of his homework to send pictures to Chengcheng. “Send pictures to who?” Zeren asks, peering over at his worksheet with the note and a little doodle of Dahua underneath it. 

 

“Chengcheng.” Justin says. “Fan Chengcheng?” Zeren asks. 

 

“How do you know him?” Justin asks back. “He’s Wenjun’s friend and he tutors Quanzhe for his Chemistry class.” Zeren says, staring at the board and scribbling down the teacher’s chicken scratch. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” Justin whisper-screams into Zeren’s ear. He ignores him and continues writing notes. Justin prods his arm with his pen but Zeren doesn’t respond, so he rolls the sleeve of Zeren’s shirt up and starts drawing on it. It’s only when he finishes his drawing that Zeren replies. “You never asked.” 

 

Justin sits back into his seat, proud of his work of art. Zeren peers at his arm, and drops his pen when he takes a good look at what Justin had written. 

 

_DING ZEREN AND BI WENJUN, SITTING ON A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G._

 

It’s nowhere near the most creative nor funny thing Justin has ever come up with, but it’s still worth it when Zeren stares at his arm so long his eyes begin to water. And when he snaps out of it, class is almost over and his notebook page is empty and he freaks out. 

 

 

 

The last bell rings, and he wakes up with a jolt. Qian Zhenghao from his Biology class laughs at him and passed Justin his already-packed bag. “I heard you’re having your first rehearsal today! Good luck,” Zhenghao smiles. Justin gives him a constrictingly tight hug and thinks that not all angels are sent from heaven, but they do have blonde hair and are amazingly cute. 

 

“Thanks, Haohao! But how did you know?” Justin says, still hugging him. “I’m in the choir for that play.” Zhenghao says as if it’s not a big deal. (Hint: It is!)

 

Justin gapes at him. “You never told me you sang!”

 

“You never told me you act!” Zhenghao shoots back, but somehow manages to still look angelic.

 

“I don’t act.” Justin says, beginning to grin.

 

“And I don’t sing,” Zhenghao quips, and the teacher yells at both of them to get out of class already.

 

 

 

He barely makes it to the rehearsal in time. Wenjun and Chengcheng glare at him and shove him into the auditorium, slamming the door after him. Yanjun doesn’t look up at them from his seat onstage, but only starts talking when the three of them have settled down. “We’ll be starting with Scene 1. Bi Wenjun, Zhou Yanchen and Li Xikan, please go onto stage and we’ll begin with your lines.” And Justin’s left with Chengcheng by his side.

 

Justin has his script in his hand, but he’s not reading it. Instead, he’s staring intensely at Chengcheng’s face. “We have matching earholes.” He comments. Chengcheng coughs, and says, “What?”

 

“As in, we both have two piercings on one ear and one on the other. We have matching piercings!” Justin says. Chengcheng doesn’t reply for a while because he’s too busy laughing at the sheer silliness of that statement, and Justin grins. “I made you laugh!” He says proudly.

 

“Your stupidity made me laugh. It’s not like there aren’t another ten thousand people in the world having double and single piercings on their ears,” Chengcheng says through his laughter as another actor turns to glare at them for being too loud.

 

They sit in the auditorium seats for the whole rehearsal that day. Not because they didn’t have enough scenes to act in, but because Yanjun insisted that the first few scenes weren’t good enough and kept making them re-do scene one and two. Justin laughs at Wenjun’s pained expression on stage, but doesn’t move from his seat to help him out.

 

 

 

 

Eventually, Yanjun does move on from the first few scenes and Justin finally gets the chance to act on the stage instead of pacing around in front of the stage and muttering his lines to himself.

 

He can feel the weight of the twenty something actors on him, waiting to judge his worth as a newbie actor. He’s psyched himself up for this moment—the moment where all the actors stare at him in awe and admiration despite the fact that everyone in the room had at least three years of experience on him.

 

And then when he opens his mouth to recite his first line, everything falls apart.

 

 

 

 

Three months pass. Justin gets a little better. “You got a lot better!” Wenjun says, and when Justin thinks back to that disastrous first rehearsal, he laughs. “Me forgetting all my lines and falling off the stage and squashing half of the props isn’t really a good basis for comparison.” Chengcheng shrugs. “I wouldn’t say it was completely bad. I mean, that cardboard table prop had been really ugly.”

 

Yanjun, passing by, remarks, “I agree.” The four of them look over at the brand-new table, this time made out of authentic wood, and Yanjun pats Justin on the back. “You’re not too bad.”

 

“You’re not too shabby yourself either,” Justin remarks, and Yanjun shoots a mock-threatening glare before calling all the actors to assemble for the full-dress rehearsal.

 

In theatre, Justin realises, Chengcheng is like a completely different person. When they’re at their lunch table, when they’re talking to each other, he’s noisy and animated and has a terrible sense of humour. On stage, he’s somehow really in-character. Charismatic and brave when he needs to be, and confused and sad when the scene requires him to be.

 

In a way, Justin supposes that he kind of admires Chengcheng a lot.

 

 

 

Justin first becomes aware of it when Zhengting brings it up. “Justin, do you like someone?” He asks while they’re sitting on the patio, textbooks and laptops open but not really studying. 

 

“No, why?” Justin asks. Zhengting shrugs. “No reason. I just noticed something.” 

 

“What? You can’t ask me a question like that and then leave me hanging!” Justin. Zhengting shades his face with a hand and starts fanning himself. “Wow, it’s so hot today!” He says. Justin throws his textbook at Zhengting and it connects with his head, but Zhengting continues fanning his face and ignoring him.

 

“Don’t try to change the subject, gē!” Justin smacks Zhengting’s hand away from his face. “What is it?”

 

“Actually, it’s not just me. Hyungseob noticed it too after I pointed it out to him.” Zhengting says. 

 

Justin squints. Hyungseob? Hyungseob, who was so oblivious that he wouldn’t even notice someone crushing on him until the person asked him out? “Hyungseob?” He asks. 

 

“It’s pretty obvious by the way you act around him.” Zhengting says. He picks his laptop off the table and folds his chair in, dragging it back inside the house. 

 

“You can’t just leave like that!” Justin yells as the front door slams close. 

 

“Who?” He wonders out loud. He looks at the garden, and Dahua pokes her head out from the flower bushes. “Do you know, Dahua?” He asks the dog, but she blinks at him and goes back to sniffing the flower bushes, and only her tail is left sticking out of the bush.

 

 

 

 

Chengcheng walks over to their table, balancing two lunch trays on his arms. It wobbles as he sets them down, and pulls out a chair. “You made me get your lunch for you, and don’t even get a chair for me.” He grumbles.  

 

“I was reserving the table for us! I couldn’t have stood up to get a chair. What if someone takes our spot?” Justin argues. Chengcheng places two hands on the side of his face and turns his head to look at the rest of the canteen. “Do you see anyone clamouring to steal other people’s tables?” Chengcheng deadpans. 

 

“Doesn’t mean the canteen is relatively empty that people won’t decide to take our table!” Justin says, but admits defeat in his head. “Do you even see the flaw in your logic?” Justin opens his mouth to argue back, but Chengcheng holds up a hand. “Never mind.”

 

Justin picks up his fork and transfers the cherry tomatoes to Chengcheng’s tray. It’s silent for a while, and Justin briefly worries if he’d annoyed Chengcheng. “Are you mad?” Justin asks bluntly. 

 

Chengcheng looks up in surprise. “No?” He says questioningly. “What made you think that?” He asks. He shoves his empty lunch tray aside, glasses askew.

 

“I don’t know. You were kind of quiet for a while.” Justin says, but he breathes a sigh of relief internally. He didn’t know if he could stand it if Chengcheng snapped and started ignoring him. 

 

“It’s just the exams, you know? The rest of my class is really smart and it seems like I’m the only one lagging behind.” Chengcheng sighs, and Justin nods understandingly. “I can relate,” he says, and just like that, they slip back into their easy conversation and effortless banter. 

 

If Chengcheng sees Wenjun and Zeren walking into the canteen and immediately walking back out when they see Justin and Chengcheng, he doesn’t comment on it. So Justin keeps quiet about their odd behaviour and rests his cheek on his hand, staring at Chengcheng as the older boy speaks animatedly. 

 

Idly, he wonders if Wenjun and Zeren’s behaviour meant anything, but forgets about it when Chengcheng flicks his head and complains that Justin wasn’t playing attention. “Your glasses.” Justin says abruptly.

 

“What?” Chengcheng says. He scrunches his nose, crossing his eyes to look at his glasses. Justin reaches out a hand and pushes Chengcheng’s glasses up the bridge of his nose. “There,” Justin says, and pats his head. Chengcheng flushes but doesn’t shove his hand away.

 

 

 

 

The second person to speak up is, surprisingly, Yanjun. He addresses the question in his typical brash fashion, and Justin feels slightly reassured that Yanjun isn’t treating him any differently. “Are you and Chengcheng a thing?” He says after rehearsals about one and a half weeks before the actual performance.

 

“No?” Justin says unsurely. “Was that a question or an answer?” Yanjun says.

 

“I don’t know.” Justin sighs, and Yanjun shakes his head. “Children and their relationship problems.” He mutters under his breath, and Justin loops an arm through Yanjun’s. “Why are you asking me that?” Justin asks.

 

Yanjun glances at Justin. “Are you seriously _asking me that?_ ”

 

“Yes?” Justin tries. Yanjun pries Justin’s grip on his arm off, and gives him a look. “Don’t you like him?”

 

Justin stops, and Yanjun continues walking for a few moments before realising the absence of Justin by his side and turns around to look for him. “What’s wrong with you today?” He asks irritably.

 

“Was this what Zhengting was talking about?” Justin thinks out loud, and runs forward to catch up with Yanjun. “What do you mean I like him?” He pleads, shaking Yanjun’s arm. “Please!” He adds on when Yanjun hesitates for a moment. “You two are just really close, and it kind of reflects on stage—not that I’m complaining. It fits the plot well. I think almost everyone in the play thought you two were dating.” Yanjun tells him.

 

Justin freezes for so long that Yanjun actually walks in front of him to wave in his face. “Justin!” Yanjun snaps his fingers, and Justin doesn’t respond. “Justin Huang!” He tries again, but Justin remains unresponsive.

“Justin!” Someone else calls, and Justin recognises the voice instantly. “Chengcheng!” He shouts back, and Yanjun tsks at him. “You ignored me for a whole five minutes, then respond immediately when he calls?” Justin ignores him again and runs towards the staircase.

 

Chengcheng is waiting for him in the landing of the stairwell, and he looks up from the ground and smiles at Justin when he arrives. “I was waiting for you outside the auditorium to go home together, but you weren’t there,” Chengcheng says, handing Justin his forgotten bag. “I went to talk to Yanjun,” Justin says, and Chengcheng hums. “About the play?” He asks.

 

“Yeah. See you tomorrow, Chengcheng!” Yanjun says, brushing past the both of them. He turns around slightly to glare at Justin, and Justin nods his head imperceptibly at Yanjun. He walks off, and Chengcheng and Justin are left alone in the stairwell.

 

“Let’s go, I want to see Dahua!” Chengcheng says excitedly. Justin snorts. “You’re allergic to dogs,” He says, but follows Chengcheng down the road to his house anyway.

 

If Chengcheng shows up the next day with swollen eyes and a runny nose, he refuses to acknowledge it. Instead, he demands pictures of him playing with Dahua the day before, and Justin surrenders his phone to Chengcheng.

 

 

 

A week before the performance, Justin has a mini breakdown. He’s forgetting his lines in every scene, and Yanjun is already beyond frustrated and transitioning to his scary yelling phase. Chengcheng asks for a break and Yanjun waves at the both of them. “Bring him back soon.” He says, and calls the actors in the next scene to come up.

 

Chengcheng brings Justin out of the theatre by the back door, and tells him to take deep breaths. Justin gasps for air through his tears, but his breaths get stuck inside his throat. He feels like he’s drowning but without any water around him, but he’s numb and paralyzed, unable to move. “It’s alright, Justin,” Chengcheng soothes, arm wound tightly around his shoulders and fingers running through his hair. Justin turns his face into Chengcheng’s shirt, the scratchy material of his costume digging into his face.

 

Chengcheng doesn’t let go of him until his breaths have evened out, and he’s calm. “Oh, god.” Justin breathes out when he’s realised how much of a mess he’s caused. Chengcheng seems to notice and lets go of him, and Justin stumbles backwards and his back hits the wall. Chengcheng follows him as he slides down the wall and sits down to face him. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t know.” Justin says into his palms. A hand wraps around his wrists and pulls it away from his face. “Hey, it’s okay. All of us actors have had things like this happen to us before. What’s wrong?” Chengcheng says, still holding onto his hands.

 

“I really don’t know. It’s just like—like, it’s so close to the play and I’m forgetting everything already and the actors are looking down on me and I feel like I’ve disappointed Yanjun and Wenjun and you,” He says, and Chengcheng lets go of one hand to tilt his head up so that they’re eye-to-eye.

 

“You aren’t disappointing anyone. It’s normal to have nerves, but we already know that you’ll do well.” Chengcheng says. “I’m sorry I can’t say more to comfort you because I don’t know how to, but trust me when I say you’ve already made us proud.” Justin finds himself unable to meet his eyes. “Let’s go in,” Justin says instead, and Chengcheng pushes himself off the ground and offers a hand to Justin.

 

When they re-enter the auditorium, no one glances up at them and Justin feels the tension on his shoulders lift a little. Yanjun calls them up on stage to redo the scene and this time, Justin remembers all his lines.

 

 

 

Backstage is a mess. The costume directors are freaking out over Li Xikan’s lost bow and quiver, and the makeup artist is screaming at Wenjun for sweating and ruining his eye makeup. Yanjun is running around, double-checking and triple-checking the stability of the props and the lighting and the stage conditions. The choir stands at the side of the stage, the conductor hastily marking out their positions.

 

Justin sits on a chair a little off to the side of the chaos. He makes eye contact with Zhenghao, who shoots him a thumbs-up. Justin winks back at him and Zhenghao laughs and points at somewhere near Justin. _Who?_ Justin mouths. Zhenghao nods towards the general direction of the crowd actors. His eyes automatically seek Chengcheng. Chengcheng shoves his way through the mess to pull Justin out of his seat. “Justin, have you seen the crowd?”

 

They push aside part of the heavy curtains and Justin is blinded for a moment by the camera flashes. All the seats are filled, and there’s news reporters standing at the side with their big cameras. Some people are holding up boards with various names on it and Justin laughs when he sees Hyungseob holding up a large sign with his name on it with neon lights. Zhengting is beside him, holding up a similar sign but with Wenjun’s name on it. Zeren, Quanzhe and Xinchun stand behind them, clearly embarrassed.

 

Justin draws back from the curtains to look wide-eyed at Chengcheng. Chengcheng stares right back, and they look out at the crowd again.

 

Then Yanjun is screaming at them to gather for a final talk before the performance. He tries to be heard, but over the sound of the thousand-something people shouting and cheering outside, no one can hear him. So he gives up and sticks a hand out, and everyone follows suit, and they do a last cheer. Yanjun says something like ‘go to your stage positions’ and Justin and Chengcheng scramble to hurry backstage before the curtains open.

 

Yanjun gives the sign for the curtains to be opened, and slowly, the curtains part, and the cheers of the audience grows tenfold as the curtains open fully and Yanjun walks on stage, the very picture of cool confidence. He speaks into the mic, introducing the play and Justin reaches blindly for Chengcheng’s hand. He finds it, and they grip on to each other tightly.

 

Yanjun steps off stage, and this is the cue for the first scene to begin. They unfreeze from their positions on stage, and the audience quietens down. Justin looks at Chengcheng who’s already staring at him. Chengcheng opens his mouth to say something, but someone is already shoving them to the stage wings to get ready. They’re fitted with wireless mics and Justin realises that the scene just before theirs is drawing to a close, but he’s not really afraid anymore.

 

The curtains open again, and Yanjun pats his back one last time before he’s set to go on stage. Then he feels a familiar presence by his side. “I like you, Justin.” He hears Chengcheng’s voice and it registers immediately, but it’s time and Chengcheng has already entered. “Go!” Yanjun hisses at him and he walks out of the stage wings and into the spotlight.

 

 

 

 

“Two, three!” Yanjun yells, and with their arms linked, they bow to the audience. Above the sounds of clapping and screaming and the exhilaration running through his veins, Justin feels the warmth of another’s hand and the unsteady beating of his heart. 

 

Looking down, he sees roses and sunflowers and dozens of others flowers scattered at his feet. On a whim, he picks up a pink rose and slips it into his pocket, and he feels the hand around his tighten. Justin smiles as he stands up, and doesn’t let go of his hand. 

 

He feels the confused gaze of the other actors on him, but they disperse off stage and the applause dies down. Someone whoops from the crowd, but Justin keeps his eyes fixed on Chengcheng.

 

He pulls out the pink rose from his pocket and there’s a combined gasp from the audience. Chengcheng’s eyes widen but Justin doesn’t break character. He holds out the flower. “I like you too. Fan Chengcheng, date me!” He shouts over the incredulous murmur of the crowd.

 

There’s absolute silence for a few beats, but Justin isn’t worried. Chengcheng looks from the flower to Justin’s face and back to the flower again, and then he reaches a hand out. He doesn’t take the flower—no, he catches Justin’s hands in his grasp and pulls him closer. “Yes!” Chengcheng shouts back, and they’re standing so awfully close to each other that they could almost kiss.

 

So they do, and the pink rose falls out of Justin’s hands and the applause of the crowd turns into a deafening standing ovation. “I really like you,” Chengcheng whispers, the distance between them almost non-existent.

 

“I do too.” Justin whispers back. And for the last time, they exit the stage.

  

**Author's Note:**

> ya so i hope it was satisfactory! wrote this during exam season lol dead but thank you for reading!! <3 i love chengstin


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